# こと
## Japanese
### Etymology 1

* Alternative spellings
* 事 亊 (ryakuji) 縡 (rare) ヿ (katakana, abbreviation)
From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *kətə. Cognate with 言 (koto, “word”).

#### Alternative forms

* (suffix) ごと (goto)

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) こと [kòtóꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
* IPA: [ko̞to̞]

#### Noun

こと • (koto)
* broadly, any abstract thing, affair, matter, or fact
** a thing, occasion, circumstances, detail, particular
    昔(むかし)の事(こと)。
       Mukashi no koto.
       Past things.
    些(さ)細(さい)な事(こと)だ。
       Sasai na koto da.
       It is a trivial matter.
    いやしくもなすに足(た)る事(こと)なら立(りっ)派(ぱ)にやるだけの価(か)値(ち)がある。
       Iyashiku mo nasu ni taru koto nara rippa ni yaru dake no kachi ga aru.
       If a thing is worth doing at all, it is worth doing well.
    お前(まえ)のことが好(す)きだ。
       Omae no koto ga suki da.
       I love you. (masculine speech)
    そんなことじゃない。
       Sonna koto ja nai.
       That's not what I mean.
       (literally, “It is not that kind of matter.”)
    そんなことはない。
       Sonna koto wa nai.
       That does not happen.
       (literally, “That kind of matter does not exist.”)
** act of (word used for the nominalization of verbs, adjectives, or phrases)
    ある程(てい)度(ど)まで私(わたし)はあなたの言(い)うことに賛(さん)成(せい)です。
       Aru teido made watashi wa anata no iu koto ni sansei desu.
       I agree with what you say to some extent.
    考(かんが)えること5分(ごふん)
       kangaeru koto go-fun
       The act of thinking five minutes
** (by extension) experience, having been or done (used with ある (aru, “have, possess”))
    京(きょう)都(と)に行(い)ったことが有(あ)りますか。
       Kyōto ni itta koto ga arimasu ka.
       Have you ever been to Kyoto?
    彼(かれ)は学(がっ)校(こう)に遅(ち)刻(こく)することが有(あ)る。
       Kare wa gakkō ni chikoku suru koto ga aru.
       He is sometimes late for school.
** event of special importance: affair, something, incident, case, occurrence, trouble
    大(たい)変(へん)なことが起(お)こった。
       Taihen na koto ga okotta.
       A terrible accident occurred.
** business matters, affairs, business, work, duty
    慌(あわ)てて事(こと)を運(はこ)ぶとミスをしますよ。
       Awatete koto o hakobu to misu o shimasu yo.
       You make mistakes if you do things in a hurry.
** Used as a nominalizer for precepts.
    ○○は各(かく)自(じ)持(じ)参(さん)のこと。
       ○○ Wa kakuji jisan no koto.
       Each brings their own X.
    ○○は正(ただ)しく使(し)用(よう)すること。
       ○○ Wa tadashiku shiyō suru koto.
       X is to be used properly.
** It is said that; I've heard that (used with とのこと)
    ○○は存(そん)在(ざい)しないとのこと
       ○○ wa sonzai shinai to no koto
       X is said to not exist.
    明日(あした　)は晴(　は)れるとのことだ。
       Ashita wa hareru to no koto da.
       Apparently the weather will be fine tomorrow.
** Used to introduce aliases/stage names.
    こんまりこと近(こん)藤(どう)麻(ま)理(り)恵(え)
       konmari koto Kondō Marie
       Marie Kondo, also known as KonMari

##### Usage notes

* This term is often spelled in hiragana.
* こと (koto) is used for abstract things, such as an action or concept. 物 (mono) is used for more concrete things, such as physical objects.
* Besides ヿ, a hiragana abbreviation also exists, , which is presently not in Unicode.

##### Idioms

* 事(こと)にしている (koto ni shite iru, “make a point of”)
* 事(こと)になる (koto ni naru, “it has been decided that”)
* 事(こと)とする (koto to suru, “designate something”)
* 事(こと)によると (koto ni yoru to, “depending on the circumstances”)
* 事(こと)が足(た)りる (koto ga tariru, “be sufficient, answer the purpose”)
* 事(こと)を運(はく)ぶ (koto o hakubu, “proceed, go ahead”)
* 事(こと)を起(お)こす (koto o okosu, “cause trouble”)
* 事(こと)を好(この)む (koto o konomu, “revel in trouble and discord”)
* 事(こと)を分(わ)ける (koto o wakeru, “reason with a person”)
* 事(こと)を成(な)し遂(と)げる (koto o nashitogeru, “achieve a task”)
* 事(こと)と次(し)第(だい)で (koto to shidai de, “under certain circumstances”)
* 事(こと)も無(な)げ (koto mo nage, “careless”)
* 事(こと)である (koto de aru, “it is said, they say”)
* 事(こと)毎(ごと)に (kotogoto ni, “in everything”)
* 明(めい)白(はく)な事(こと) (meihaku na koto, “obvious fact”)
* 学(がっ)校(こ)の事(こと)を話(はな)す (gakko no koto o hanasu, “speak about the school”)
* 考(かんが)える事(こと) (kangaeru koto, “what one thinks”)
* 永(なが)い事(こと) (nagai koto, “for a long time”)
* 毎(まい)日(にち)の事(こと) (mainichi no koto, “daily affairs”)
* どんな事(こと)が有(あ)っても (donna koto ga atte mo, “under any circumstances”)

### Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of こと – see the following entry. :
| 【言】2 | [noun] word |
(This term, こと (koto), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as こと, see Category:Japanese kanji read as こと.) :

### Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of こと – see the following entry. :
| 【琴】S | [noun] koto: a Japanese zither derived from the Chinese guzheng [noun] (colloquial) guzheng: a Chinese zither on which the koto was based [since after the Edo period] [proper noun] a female given name [proper noun] a surname Alternative spelling 箏 |
(This term, こと (koto), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as こと, see Category:Japanese kanji read as こと.) :

### Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of こと – see the following entry. :
| 【異】6 | [noun] difference; (prefixed to nouns) different; other Alternative spelling 殊 |
(This term, こと (koto), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as こと, see Category:Japanese kanji read as こと.) :

### References

* 諸橋轍次 (Morohashi Tetsuji), chief ed. 大漢和辞典 (Dai Kan-Wa Jiten, “Comprehensive Chinese–Japanese Dictionary”). 13 vols. 1955–1960. Revised and enlarged ed. 1984–1986. Tokyo: Taishukan.